Outstanding businesses on the Eastside that uphold a strong commitment to quality, community and innovation were recognized at the 27th Annual Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Eastside Business Awards reception and ceremony on March 31. Download your copy of the 2016 Eastside Business Awards Entrepreneur Magazine at www.bellevuechamber.org to learn more about all of the Award winners and nominees.

Eastside Business of the Year: MOD Pizza: fast casual made to order pizza

Eastside Small Business of the Year: Guidant Financial: small business financing

"The nominees honored this year run successful companies, small and large. Their determination, innovation, inductriousness, and generosity embody the Eastside's Entrepreneurial Spirit," said Betty Capestany, President and CEO, Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. "The dedication to excellence drives our business community every day, leading to job growth and economic vitality. We salute all of the nominees - you represent the best of the best on the Eastside!"

The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have CliftonLarsonAllen, KeyBank and Perkins Coie as corporate sponsors, City of Bellevue as an associate sponsor, Bellevue Reporter as a media sponsor and Mike Nakamura Photography as an in-kind sponsor.

The Bellevue Chamber serves as the voice of business on the Eastside, representing thousands of jobs in our community. Businesses range in size from sole proprietors to large corporations. The Chamber's mission is to foster a healthy business environment by providing strategic leadership, advocacy, tools, and resources for business success.
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Eastside Business of the Year: MOD Pizza (Bellevue, WA). Recognized for their sustained superior performance as an established Eastside business of over 100 employees.

After selling two previous companies (Seattle Coffee Company in the UK to Starbucks, and talking another company public in London) co-founders Scott and Ally returned to Bellevue in 2008 and launched the concept of MOD Pizza - fast casual made to order pizza. One of the things that sets MOD Pizza apart is their MOD Squad - their employees. In 2015 Fortune Magazine recognized MOD as the 7th best place to work in retail. They have 2000 employees in 110 restaurants in 16 states and an aggressive growth plan to grow to 190 stores.

Eastside Small Business of the Year: Guidant Financial (Bellevue, WA). Recognized for their superior performance as an Eastside small business of 100 employees or fewer with an established presence in the community, a commitment to workforce excellence, and a demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit.

Since 2003, Guidant Financial has made a name for itself as an industry leader of small business financing. Guidant has helped 11,000 entrepreneurs in all 50 states secure over $3 billion in funding to start or acquire a small business or franchise. These businesses directly employ more than 60,000 Americans. Guidant offers traditional financing options such as Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, unsecured credit and portfolio loans, but is also the premier provider of a retirement rollover method called rollovers for business start-ups (ROBS).

Innovative Product of the Year: VRstudios, Inc. (Bellevue, WA). Recognized for launching a new cutting edge product, software, service or application.

VRstudios® launched in 2014, when five local entrepreneurs with backgrounds in gaming, enterprise technology, executive management, and global organization establishment, merged to provide a flexible virtual reality (VR) solution-based platform. Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, VRstudios is the only VR company providing a collection of unique capabilities to the commercial enterprise and gaming industries through its turn-key systems. The company's technology brings an unprecedented, completely immersive and interactive experience that is wireless, provides full-physical-motion tracking, and allows simultaneous multiple users in the same virtual space. VRstudios is providing real business solutions and significantly transforming numerous industries, such as gaming, aerospace, health care, construction, and architecture and design. Their technology allows the company to continuously take advantage of the newest breakthroughs in VR.

Entrepreneurial Spirit – Startup of the Year: Quantyzd (Bellevue, WA). Recognized as a startup business that is poised to achieve consistent and significant growth.

Launched in 2015, Quantyzd is focused on the mobile application marketplace. Testing these apps for developers across all platforms is their niche - they realized that companies spend 30% of software development on validating their activities and Quantyzd helps developers save time and money. Within the first few months of launching they have already signed up 30+ customers. Quantyzd is also working with underprivileged youth to teach them entrepreneurship and job skills.

Mutual Materials, providers of high quality masonry is a family-owned business, now in its 5th generation of leadership. The company was founded 115 years ago under the name Builders Brick Co. and came to Seattle in 1900 to help rebuild the City after the Great Fire. Their bricks were not only used to rebuild downtown Seattle, but also icons like Safeco Field, UW Red Square, Microsoft Campus and the list goes on. Mutual Materials employs 440 people and operates 10 manufacturing facilities plus 16 distribution branches throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. Having maintained their headquarters in Bellevue for over 50 years, Mutual Materials has been part of the backbone of the Eastside’s infrastructure growth.